Mr. Ahern has 35 years of experience as an executive, entrepreneur and operator in the financial services industry. He currently is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Brush Creek Partners, a private equity investment firm. Mr. Ahern is the former Founder, Chairman, and CEO of CIC Bancshares, a bank holding company and its subsidiary bank, Centennial Bank. CIC Bancshares was acquired by Heartland Financial, USA (“HTLF”) and Mr. Ahern continued his leadership position as Executive Chairman of Centennial Bank and Chairmand of Citywide Banks and was an Executive Vice President of HTLF. Ahern also served as President and COO of Braddock Financial Corporation, a Colorado-based alternative asset management and private equity firm focused in the structured securities markets as well as serving as an Executive VP of CoBiz Financial, Inc. as Treasurer and Managing Director of corporate development. Mr. Ahern has also held positions with Aetna Investment Management, Mutual Asset Management, ING Investment Management, and Sterling Partners where he was a quantitative fixed income analyst, trader, portfolio manager, managing director, and chief investment officer. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of InBank Corp, a New Mexico and Colorado-based bank holding company, Bancorp 34, Inc., an Arizona-based bank holding company, ERI Group, Inc., Gemini XIII, LLC, and is Chairman of Investment Trust Company. A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Ahern obtained a Master of Business Administration focused in finance, General from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in Finance and Insurance from the University of Northern Colorado.